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April 21, 2018

Shortage of funds delaying strategic roads along China border

While infrastructure development along the China border was the most
important issue discussed in the bi-annual Army Commanders’ Conference,
the issue of shortage of funds leading to delay in strategic road
projects was also deliberated upon at the mega military event.

The
matter pertained to the dearth of funds in the hands of the Border
Roads Organisation (BRO), which in turn, is leading to delays in
completing strategic roads along the frontier with China, officials said
today.

As a response to the money crunch, funds meant for
General Staff (GS) roads are being diverted for the higher priority
India-China Border Roads (ICBRs). This is likely to affect the 200-odd
GS roads that ensure inter-valley and inter-sector movement of troops
and equipment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.

On the other hand, the ICBRs are meant for much larger mobilisation efforts.

The
inadequate budget for the strategic roads and infrastructure
development along the northern borders has also been highlighted by the
Indian Army’s Vice Chief Lt Gen Sarath Chand, who informed the
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence that the allocation for
these tasks is falling short by about Rs 902 crore.

Speaking
about the event, Lt Gen A K Sharma, the army’s Director General Staff
Duties, said: “Senior commanders deliberated at length on the prevailing
situations along the northern borders, the capacity building endeavours
including infrastructural development and measures to provide them
requisite impetus.”

Earlier this week, the BRO, which a primary
construction agency for border infrastructure development, gave a
presentation at the conference, providing an update on the work it has
been carrying out along the northern borders, the funds it has received
and how it is falling short of their requirement. “Only 60 per cent of demands for funds for all roads under the BRO are
being met. This is not enough. Due to the shortage, all road projects,
including of the 61 ICBRs and GS roads, will be delayed and cannot be
completed on time,” said officials privy to the matter.

There
are 73 planned ICBRs whose construction began in 1999. The BRO has been
tasked to construct 61 of them, out of which 28 have been completed and
the remaining 33 are expected to be completed by 2022.

The
matter was also raised in one of the reports tabled in Parliament by the
Standing Committee on Defence. The Director General Border Roads had
flagged off concerns over the completion of road projects saying: “This
year, we have made a slight policy change because these have a fixed
timeline of 2022. Dedicated fund is being allocated for east ICBR out of
my budget. While I understand this may affect the other GS roads to
some extent, this is a criticality for the nation and we have taken
this. So, we will be allocating the budget ICBR-wise first.”